Abstract: The invention relates to a transgenic mouse model with deficient respiratory chain function in dopamine (DA) neurons. By suppressing or deleting the mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) in DA neurons, a mouse model is obtained, which reproduces key pathophysiological features of Parkinson's disease (PD), i.e., slow progressive loss of DA terminals in striatum and loss of DA neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta; alpha-synuclein immunoreactivity including intracellular inclusions similar to Lewy bodies in affected areas prior to and during cell loss; progressive movement disorder associated with abnormal gait, tremor and rigid limbs. The mouse model can be used to develop pharmacological, gene therapy or cell therapy treatments for PD.

Abstract: Recombinant viruses, isolated nucleic acids and methods of generating same encoding for a Rhabdoviral G stem polypeptide are disclosed. Methods, compounds and compositions for target cell fusion potentiation mediated by Rhabdoviral G stem polypeptides, and applications of same are provided.